The ‘Oooo Face’: That Puckered Look Every Woman Was Making Mid-Century

If you’ve seen old advertisements from the 1950s, then you know exactly what the “Oooo Face” is (not to be confused with the “O Face”). Seemingly every woman in these ads wore the expression; the lips positioned to form the long /oo/ sound. Generally, she’s wearing red lipstick and her eyes give the impression of being dumbfounded.

And it wasn’t just advertisements that had women pursing their lips – it was everywhere: album covers, pin-ups, magazine covers. Wherever an image of a woman was found, there you found the “Oooo Face”.